Visa Extends World Cup Sponsorship Through '22, Though Terms Of Deal Have Changed

Visa has reached an "eight-year sponsorship extension" valued at more than $170M to stay a FIFA World Cup sponsor though the '22 event in Qatar, according to Tripp Mickle of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. The deal ensures Visa, which also is an IOC TOP sponsor, will "have the rights to the two premiere global sports properties ... for the rest of the decade." Sources said that FIFA has "clawed back some of the rights that Visa has in its current deal," which runs through '14. The existing deal gives Visa the rights to "both the payment services category and the retail banking category." Visa has been able to "take the retail banking rights and sell them in many markets around the world, recouping some of its sponsorship cost by auctioning those rights in targeted countries." But FIFA will "keep control" of those rights in the new deal, leaving Visa as only the payment services category. The change gives FIFA the "chance to boost its total haul from the retail banking category by selling rights in Europe during the coming World Cups." It also will result in Visa "spending more for less," and the company will not be "able to offset its costs in the same way." It is "unclear whether Visa will be able to pass through, but not sell, rights to use the World Cup and FIFA logos to banks worldwide," something it does with its IOC deal (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 4/1 issue).